Help! Not accepting encryption passcode after Lolipop update

[mvietori]

I upgraded to Lolipop about a week ago. Everything was good.

Today however, I changed my device unlock passcode from PIN (6-digits) to a full password (6-characters). I restarted my device shortly after, as I knew the phone was encrypted and wanted to ensure the encryption password was updated accordingly. Now it's not taking the new 6-letter password, nor my old 6-digit PIN on the unencrypt screen. I'm down to 8 attempts left before it will factory reset. (update: ended up having to factory reset...)

I can assure you that I remember the 6-letter password I entered as my new one, since I restarted right after I changed it, and it's the same one I use for many things.

I run and support our MDM platform for our company and have had 3 users report the same problem. I was skeptical at first, thinking these people simply forgot their passcode, but now I am in the exact same boat as them.

Is this a Lolipop bug? Anyone have any ideas???

 

[mvietori]

We've had about 15 people in our company with this same problem now. Something's definitely wrong here.

Here's what I think is happening on Lolipop that's causing people to have to factory reset:
1. When they first got their Androids back on Kit Kat they had to encrypt their devices. To do that, they needed to enter a min 6-character password.
2. After encryption, they were allowed to change from password to 6-digit PIN. Most users do this for ease-of-use. They subsequently forget their initial password since it's no longer needed. During phone reboots, the 6-digit PIN works fine for decryption on Kit Kat. Any password changes they do also work for decrypting on Kit Kat.
3. Now, months/year later, they upgrade to Lolipop. After rebooting, their phone does not accept their current PIN nor any other PIN/pass the user can think of. They have to factory reset.

 

[Jereme Hancock]

I am having this same issue! I am down to 2 attempts. I have always had a pin set for the encryption/lock screen.

I really don't want to factory reset. Is there anything that I can do?

Thanks, Jereme

 

[Josh Raduka]

Hey mvietori, I was curious if you found a solution to this issue? We have also had about 20 people report the same exact thing. I support our MDM as well.

 

[Shaheen Khatieb]

Hello

I found your query online and was rather disappointed to read that I would have to factory reset. It turns out though, that there is a way around this. Read on:

I have this same problem with encryption software on my Galaxy S5. You don't have to factory reset though. You can downgrade to KitKat 4.4.2 (about 1.5 Gigs) using Odin (about 2 MB) and still keep all of your data, pics, etc. I did not lose a single thing.

It's really not that difficult and I did it following the tutorials online without a problem.

My only warning is to get Odin from a reputable website - think I may have downloaded a heuristic a few times (but I should have known better too). Don't download Odin 3.10.6 and you should be fine. Use Odin 3.7 instead.

Glad I could help

 

[Shaheen Khatieb]

Hello - Replying to you, because I found a solution.

You can downgrade to KitKat without losing anything.

Read my previous post. Hope it makes sense.

 

[bangxings]

Could you please link the site/video you used to downgrade? Also...wouldn't you need to factory reset when downgrading? If so, you'd still lose everything....no?

 

[anon(9972936)]

I upgraded to Lolipop about a week ago. Everything was good.

Today however, I changed my device unlock passcode from PIN (6-digits) to a full password (6-characters). I restarted my device shortly after, as I knew the phone was encrypted and wanted to ensure the encryption password was updated accordingly. Now it's not taking the new 6-letter password, nor my old 6-digit PIN on the unencrypt screen. I'm down to 8 attempts left before it will factory reset. (update: ended up having to factory reset...)

I can assure you that I remember the 6-letter password I entered as my new one, since I restarted right after I changed it, and it's the same one I use for many things.

I run and support our MDM platform for our company and have had 3 users report the same problem. I was skeptical at first, thinking these people simply forgot their passcode, but now I am in the exact same boat as them.

Is this a Lolipop bug? Anyone have any ideas???

I was having this problem on my Galaxy N7000 device. I changed my encryption password as it was too tough to enter everytime but when next time I flashed my STOCK rom again then both the new one & old one was not accepting I was so scared of it, as it was my first high end device. But then I heard of FastBoot a very tiny 9.5MB utility that worked for me. It actually helped me to get rid off my bloody encryption successfully. Thank you that person who suggested this utility to me. You should try this.

 

[khatib7]

My name is Ahmed,
I'm facing this issue and i need your help, So give your phone number please and Thank you.

 

[krakken00]

Same problem on my Note 4 from ATT. I hope there is a default PW that fixes this!